[maine-iac7]

I am in the same boat as you, no children, however, I just cannot understand how someone drops off their helpless 5 month old to strangers.

Thank your lucky stars you are not a parent in a society that now requires two incomes to keep heads above the water - and/or that you are not doing two full-time jobs at once (job outside the home and job of parent in the home) that can leave you stressed, frazzled, rushing and prone to make mistakes - even tragic ones.

The old Cheyenne prayer comes to mind; "Great Spirit, help me not to judge another until I have walked in their moccasins many moons."

[yellowdoghunter]

Please know that my husband and I have been making plans for years that will allow me to stay home once we decide to have children. It requires sacrifice, not living above your means, staying out of debt, etc...but it can be done! We are not wealthy, we sacrifice.

And I also wish women would rise up and demand that taxes be lowered, or whatever it takes, so it does not take two incomes to raise a family. However, if many families would give up the bigger house, the new car every 5 years or so, etc...one could afford to stay home.

[Shimmer128]

See? It's not choices that place a parent out in the workplace, it's the inability to survive without both parents working. Uh huh.
I don't know how we survive, been home with the kids for 15 years now, son/dil have a parent at home for 1.5 years now. I guess we aren't surviving.

I don't mind at all if someone says they can't afford it, who am I to argue. But DON'T EVEN start whining about no one can afford not to have 2 working, cause i know it's not true. If you're in NYC, move.
I guarantee that people who say this have LOTS of nice expensive amenities. You notice no single moms ever claim they can't survive without 2 parents working!